# County of Berks v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 429

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · February 18, 2009 · 600 Pa. 128

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9726944

## Case

- **Full name:** COUNTY OF BERKS and Berks County Board of Inspectors of the County Prison, Respondents v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS LOCAL UNION NO. 429, Petitioner
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** February 18, 2009
- **Citations:** 600 Pa. 128; 963 A.2d 1272; 2009 Pa. LEXIS 255
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court
- **Judges:** Saylor, Eakin, Baer
- **Cited by:** 6 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9726944

## Opinion text

ORDER
PER CURIAM.
AND NOW, this 18th day of February 2009, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. Because the finding of the arbitrator that Respondents failed to establish just cause for the suspension of the prison guards was rationally derived from the parties’ collective bargaining agreement, it was entitled to deference under the “Essence Test” as reaffirmed by our Court most recently in Westmoreland Intermediate v. Westmoreland (PSEA), 595 Pa. 648 , 939 A.2d 855 (2007). The order of the Commonwealth Court overturning the arbitrator’s award is hereby REVERSED. See Office of the Attorney General v. Council 13, AFSCME, 577 Pa. 257 , 844 A.2d 1217 (2004) (holding that where just cause is undefined by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, in order to determine whether an employer had just cause to discipline an employee, an arbitrator may properly examine a variety of factors involving the nature of the existing employment rela *129 tionship and the particular circumstances surrounding the disciplinary action taken).
Justice SAYLOR files a Dissenting Statement joined by Justice EAKIN and Justice BAER.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9726944. Public record. Not legal advice.